Transcript

SCOTT BEVAN: Australia's oldest Olympian, Basil Dickinson, has died at the age of 98.

Mr Dickinson was one of 33 Australians who competed at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the last Games before the outbreak of the Second World War.

A track-and-field athlete, Mr Dickinson met Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and became a friend and confidant of American champion Jesse Owens.

Lucy Carter reports.

LUCY CARTER: There aren't many Australian athletes who had a more extraordinary life than Basil Dickinson.

Born in Queanbeyan, New South Wales on ANZAC Day 1915, at age 21 he travelled with 32 other Australians to get to the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

They would go down in history as "Hitler's Games."

(Sound of Adolf Hitler speaking at the 1936 Olympic Games)

LUCY CARTER: Speaking in 2000 to ABC Radio, Mr Dickinson said that just getting to the Olympics was tough.

BASIL DICKINSON: We took 41 days to leave Sydney to get to Berlin on a boat, on the SS Mongolia, and the SS Mongolia was a one-class passenger/cargo boat. So we took a long time.

LUCY CARTER: Basil Dickinson's biographer Larry Writer says that when the Australian team arrived in Germany, they could sense something strange.

LARRY WRITER: As soon as they crossed the border from France into Germany, they were aware that everything was suddenly very businesslike. They were, you know their passports and their papers were checked repeatedly. But what he noticed was the consuming friendliness and the welcoming of the Germans. Everybody was wearing a uniform and he realised in hindsight that it was very much an orchestrated publicity campaign to impress.

LUCY CARTER: The Australian team was the first to arrive in the Berlin Olympic village.

LARRY WRITER: Hitler actually came down with some Hitler Youth and stood there and addressed them and welcomed them to Berlin.

LUCY CARTER: Going into the 1936 Games, Basil Dickinson and another Australian, Jack Metcalfe, were rated as good chances in the long jump and triple jump.

Speaking in 2000, Mr Dickinson said the long journey to Berlin meant their preparation was disrupted.

BASIL DICKINSON: We approached the Games with the wrong attitude, because of the 41 days and we competed on grass tracks over here. We had to compete on a red type of clay and we naturally tried to get fit very quickly. Well, we overdid it.

LUCY CARTER: The pair withdrew from the long jump because of injury. Jack Metcalfe went on to win bronze in the triple jump, while Basil Dickinson finished 16th.

OLYMPIC ANNOUNCER (1936): The 1,000 are away and Jesse Owens down there with Ralph Metcalfe...

LUCY CARTER: The 1936 Olympics were famous for two men: Adolf Hitler and American track-and-field superstar Jesse Owens.

Larry Writer says Basil became a friend of the African American who won four gold medals.

LARRY WRITER: He thought Jesse was a terrific guy and they had lots of talks. And Jesse actually told him about some of the problems that he himself had been having: you know, being a black man, going to Germany. He hardly fitted the Aryan ideal. And he confided in Basil about these things.

LUCY CARTER: In 2000 Mr Dickinson spoke about his memories of Jesse Owens.

BASIL DICKINSON: He impressed me as a very courteous, modest and most likeable individual. We chatted for quite a while. At no stage did I get the impression that he was a mighty man. On the contrary: he was rather humble.

LUCY CARTER: Because of the outbreak of World War II, Basil Dickinson was never able to compete in another Olympics, but went on to win medals in the 1938 Empire Games.

Biographer Larry Writer:

LARRY WRITER: He was disappointed that he wasn't at his best in Berlin because of the cinder track and the bruised heel that he had. But along with that disappointment, he was proud for the rest of his life that he was chosen to represent Australia at such an iconic Olympic Games.

LUCY CARTER: A devoted father, grandfather and great-grandfather, Basil Dickinson died on Monday. He was 98.